The Living Vampire
by MystedLove
Summary: After the war, Clary thought she was going to be with Jace forever. However, forever was much shorter than she expected. With her relationship ended abruptly, Clary wants nothing more than to stay away from the institute, away from Jace. However, is her new, undead company any better? Raphael's not dead (just undead). Claphael, some Clace in later chapters.
1. Big Endings and Little Beginnings

**Hey guys! This is my first fanfiction (technically it's my second, but I got rid of the first one after like 4 chapters).** **I'm writing a Clary x Raphael fanfiction, cause really there aren't a lot of them out there, and it's an interesting ship. This is currently rated T but might change to M in the future, I'm not really sure. If it does, I will have a warning in the relevant chapter.**

 **So yeah this is set after CoHF, and the summary really sums most of it up.**

 **A couple notes :  
** **\- Raphael's not dead (not gone from the world dead at least)  
\- Simon is a shadowhunter  
\- Max is still alive (he won't really be a big part, maybe not at all, but he's there)  
\- There will be a couple sentences in spanish along the story. I'll have some sort of symbol next to the phrase and then at the end of the story will be the same symbol along with the translation. **

**Also, there's almost definitely gonna be a lot of inconsistency from the books, because I literally remember very little. The last time I read them was about 2-3 years ago, and I have a trash memory. So yeah please just ignore all the details I get wrong hopefully there won't be too many. If it's a massive mistake, please tell me so I can fix it.**

 **That is all. Hopefully you enjoy it :)**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own any of the characters or TMI. Also I don't own the cover image either.  
(On a side note, I don't like the representation of Raphael in the Shadowhunters TV Series. He is supposed to have curly hair and you know... is hotter. The cover image is sort of similar to what I imagine him as, except with longer hair.)**

* * *

 **Chapter One : Big Endings and Little Beginnings**

Clary was in Spanish Harlem. More specifically, right in front of Hotel Dumort. Her breath came out in little puffs and her face was slightly red due to the biting cold, not to mention because of the endless tears that had only stopped in the last 5 minutes. It was around 10pm and Clary wasn't entirely sure why or how she ended up here. All she remembered was running out of the institute, her heart clenched in pain and her feet leading her somewhere, anywhere, just away from Jace.

* * *

2 Hours Ago  
It was quite dark by the time Clary arrived at the institute, laughing at a stupid joke Magnus had made, her hands full of shopping bags, as so were Isabelle's and Magnus'. The three of them had spent the entire day buying clothes, makeup and accessories for the incoming Shadow World's Ball in the next two weeks. It was being held to recognize the success of the merging of Downworlders and Nephilim, after the Downworlders had gained four seats in the Clave. Everyone who was anyone was invited and going to the Ball.

Obviously, considering this was such a big occasion, Magnus and Isabelle could not pass up the opportunity to shop. They had managed to drag Clary along, but only cause she was secretly willing and excited to get her dress. When they tried to convince Jace and Alec, all they got were some irritated words about "needing to train" and "waste of time if we shop".

Clary had tried to talk more to Jace but he had shrugged her off, with an annoyed look on his face. She brushed it off, thinking that he was just having a moody day, but if she was being honest, Jace had been acting withdrawn for the past couple weeks.

Now back at the institute, Clary, Magnus and Isabelle entered to find Alec and Simon sitting on the couch, watching some film about sparkling vampires. Simon seemed to be either on the verge of crying or bursting into laughter, or perhaps even both, whereas Alec just looked exasperated. Placing her bags on the floor, Clary ruffled Simon's hair, getting a mere "hey!" out of him before she realised how concentrated he was on the film. Meanwhile, Magnus and Isabelle also dumped their bags and then sat next to their partners, paying attention to the stupid movie. Clary sighed and was about to pick up her bags and go to her room when Alec finally spoke.

"I think Jace is still in the training room, Clary," he mumbled just audibly enough, without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Thank you!" she replied, smiling slightly and then making her way to the training room.

As Clary walked, she could hear the unmistakeable sounds of knives hitting a target as well as someone running around. She opened the door to the training room and walked in, noticing how focused Jace was. It looked like he had been training non-stop ever since she had left, his body glistening with sweat, and his hair adorably messy. He seemed to shine, the lights reflecting off his bare chest. Clary observed all of this while walking to a desk where Jace's phone, shirt and towel were placed, and sitting down on the chair. The sound and movement of the chair sliding back caught his eye and he noticed Clary. Placing down the knives, he walked over, grabbing the towel.

"Hey," he muttered, staring down at the floor while cleaning off the sweat from his body.

"Hey there," Clary replied, unsure why her boyfriend looked so uncomfortable.

"How are you?" he asked, still avoiding eye contact.

"What's wrong with us, Jace?" Clary blurted out, unable to control herself. Jace seemed so awkward and they could barely have a conversation.

"Clary, I…," he started, his head still down, "I think we should take a break in this relationship."

"What?" Clary said, stunned. She couldn't believe what she had just heard, that she and Jace were going have to this conversation.

"It's just that, we haven't been really… clicking lately and our relationship doesn't seem as strong…" he said, trailing off.

Just then, a notification popped up on the phone lying on the desk.

 _When are you coming over? Don't tell me I'm going to have to sleep alone on our one month anniversary._

With a shock, Clary realised that it was Jace's phone. Something unexplained boiled up inside of her.

"Yeah, you're right, our relationship isn't as strong as before, and I know why," Clary said strongly, anger clearly lined in her voice. Her eyes were still on the notification on his phone.

Jace followed her line of sight and his eyes widened slightly as he realised what she had seen.

"Clary, it's not because of th-," Jace started before being cut off.

"I can't believe I trusted you," Clary said, in a deathly quiet voice. Her throat was starting to close up and she could feel the tears coming.

Jace said nothing, his eyes still not meetings hers.

"I LOVED YOU," Clary yelled, standing up suddenly, sending the chair flying backwards. "YOU KNOW WHAT? HOW ABOUT INSTEAD OF TAKING A BREAK, WE JUST END THIS RIGHT HERE? I'M SURE YOUR _ONE-MONTH GIRLFRIEND_ WOULD LOVE THAT."

At this, he finally made eye contact, but Clary wished he hadn't. His eyes were filled with pain and regret, and even tears.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice cracking slightly.

"So this is the end?" Clary whispered, her eyes staring into his, slightly pleading.

A tear trickled down his cheek and he nodded.

That nod broke Clary.

"Goodbye, Jace," she said softly.

And as tears started streaming down her face, she ran out the doors of the training room, and the institute, into the cold night air, just vaguely noticing the others calling after her.

* * *

Back at Hotel Dumort  
Clary was still standing and staring at Hotel Dumort ten minutes later, now thinking that it was a bad idea to come here. She was freezing, wearing only a peach tank top and skinny jeans. She wish she had a jacket or anything warm really, to cover up her arms. She was just making her mind up to leave, since she didn't really want to die of pneumonia, when she noticed something on one of the wall of the hotel.

 _Oh those bastards_ , was Clary's first thought.

There, hidden by a couple of boxes was very clearly a door. She assumed nobody apart from the clan knew about it, considering nobody ever lasted for long enough outside the hotel to notice the door, without having their throat ripped out first. Obviously, Clary was worried about getting the blood drained out of her by some thirsty vampires, but right then she was too hurt to let that worry consume her, and instead was being rather reckless. She made her way towards the door and started lifting and moving the boxes out of the way. Surprisingly, they were rather light.

 _Huh, I guess they really didn't worry about someone finding this entrance,_ she thought, slightly irritated. All these years, everyone who had tried to contact the clan hadn't realised there was such an easy route in, and the vampires hadn't shared that information either. Bastards indeed, they were.

After moving all the boxes, Clary pushed down on the cobweb covered handle, slightly leaning against the door, and to her annoyance, it swung wide open. She wasn't entirely sure why this easy entrance bothered her so much, so she just put down her uneasiness due to the fact that she was sort of breaking into a vampire hotel. Again.

Clary took a step into the hotel, holding her stele firmly in her hand, but then immediately stepped backwards. The wrecked bottom floor, covered in dust and cobwebs and the slight coppery scent of blood had just made her realise how stupid she was being.

 _Entering a hotel with hundreds of vampires? What the hell is wrong with me?_ She thought, sighing.

She then eased the door shut, not wanting to attract any attention and was about to walk away without placing the boxes in front of the door again, when some stupid urge made her do exactly that. She guessed that she did respect their privacy, and also didn't want some vampire after her for revealing their entrance.

After barricading the door, Clary stepped back, scanning Hotel Dumort once more and turned around, ready to go to either Magnus' or Simon's house, even if they were at the institute. However before she could take a single step. A sound from the shadows made her whip around ridiculously fast, her heartbeat accelerating.

"Well, well, well," a familiar, slightly-accented voice drawled, "Esto es inesperado."*

Clary's eyes took a moment to adjust in the dark, and when they did, her heartbeat sped up even more. There he was, leaning against the wall, with a slightly amused expression on his face.

"What are you doing here so late at night, hermosa?"

* * *

*This is unexpected.

 **I hope you guys liked it :)  
I would really appreciate it if you guys reviewed with what you liked and constructive criticism.  
The next chapter will probably be up sometime in the next 2 days. **

**Thank you for reading and until next time,  
** **xoxo Mystery Girl**


	2. First Contact

**Heya guys!  
I'm so happy with the response for the first chapter. I got a couple follows, favourites and reviews, as well as quite a few visitors. So thank you so much for everyone who read it and is here again.  
**

 **Here are some quick replies to all the reviews that were sent~**

 ** _Icognito69_ : Oh, we will most definitely be finding out who texted Jace. Possibly in the next chapter, and they will most definitely be discussed again.  
** ** _Banana2405_ : I'm glad you like it :) And I will try my best to update every 2-3 days.  
** ** _Ash 2006_ : Ahhh thank you for the review and I am definitely going to keep writing. **

**That's it :)**

 **A lot of Clary and Raphael in this chapter, so enjoy :) Also, this is quite a bit longer than the last chapter, just saying.  
Oh yeah, and a quick reminder that the translation of spanish stuff is at the bottom of the chapter, with the matching symbol. **

* * *

**Disclamer: I don't own any of the characters from TMI, or TMI itself. If I did, I would've probably had a lot more drama involving Clary and boys.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 : First Contact**

"Raphael," Clary whispered, her heart pounding.

"Sí, that is my name," he said and walked forward, running a hand through his already messy black curls.

As he stepped into the streetlight, Clary could see him more clearly. He was wearing a simple outfit, a pair of black jeans and a white shirt, accompanied by a leather jacket. He wore what looked like black Nike sneakers. Around his neck hung a golden chain with a small matching golden cross. While all of this was highly normal, as Raphael came closer, Clary noticed a small spot of blood, no bigger than the size of a coin, on his shirt. Seeing this, her heart started beating so fast, she was afraid it was going to burst out of her chest. As this happened, Raphael's eyes had snapped to the pulse on Clary's neck, and he smirked.

 _Stupid vampire senses,_ she thought, realising that of course he could hear her heart.

" _Dios*_ , Clary, I'm not going to take your blood. I'm already well fed," he said, standing right in front of her. His amused expression had now disappeared, replaced by an impassive one.

"How did you know I was here?" she said softly.

"I was on the roof, back from getting some blood, when I heard a heartbeat too close to the hotel. I glanced down and there you were, stacking boxes in front of our very _obvious_ entrance."

"Right, makes sense." Clary muttered, looking down.

"You still haven't answered my question, hermosa. What are you doing here?"

"I had nowhere else to go," she said, glancing up. For a brief second, Raphael's expression turned to shock, but just as quickly as it appeared, it had vanished. His face showed indifference once again.

"Eso es una sorpresa.** Really? _Nowhere_ else. What about your sparkly warlock friend?"

Clary simply shook her head.

"The werewolf? Or your mother?"

"Nope. They're in Idris."

"Oh right, because of the stupid ball," Raphael said, a slight annoyance lining his voice, "And the Daylighter?"

"He's no longer the Daylighter. He's a Shadowhunter now, and no."

"Well, what about your little golden-haired boyfriend -what's his name – Jace?"

Upon hearing Jace's name, Clary flinched slightly, which Raphael obviously noticed.

"Oh dear, trouble in paradise?" he remarked, amusement running through his words.

Clary chose to not say anything, staring at the pavement, her right foot gently pushing at little stones.

"I see," he mused, "You don't want to go bac-"

Raphael was cut off by Clary wincing, as a sharp breeze passed by. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to get some warmth.

"Do you want to come inside?" he offered, in a slightly bored tone. It seemed as if he didn't really care whether her answer was yes or no.

Clary glanced towards the door, remembering her experience just a few minutes ago. But it also wasn't like as she could go back to the institute, where everyone would be waiting for her. Perhaps, she could manage one night in a vampire hotel. Raphael was the leader after all, he would order the others to not kill her. _Or he wouldn't_ , she thought with a chill. Raphael had made no promises, and for all she knew, he would throw her at his clan as food within a second. He didn't exactly have a good reputation. _And even if you weren't ripped apart within the night, do you really wanna live in a wrecked and abandoned, dust-covered, dimly lit hotel? God knows what kind of things would be present,_ her subconscious said.

As all these thoughts flickered through Clary's head, Raphael was staring at her, noticing the creased eyebrows and worried expression started to settle. He sighed and spoke, breaking her train of thought.

"You don't really think we live like that, do you? It's only the first three floors that are horrible. You know, for the sake of appearances. Even though we may be creatures of the night, we still have a sense of living properly. "

"It's not just that…" Clary mumbled.

"What is then?"

"How do I know you're not going to leave me as food for the rest of the vampires?" she said, a good amount of confidence making it's way into her voice.

Raphael scoffed at her. "If I wanted to make you prey for my vampires, I would've dragged you into the hotel long ago and I wouldn't have bothered with the chit-chat."

Clary still looked uneasy, and her eyes kept flicking back to the spot of blood on his shirt.

Raphael ran a hand through his hair again, seemingly irritated. "I lead this clan, Clary. I swear they won't harm you, and neither will I. I'm tired of standing here so will you just come inside? Or go back to your Shadowhunter friends if you still don't trust me."

"Well, the second one is not an option so fine, I'll come, " Clary said, irritated that this was the only choice she had.

"Good," he said. Without any other words, he walked towards the door and easily pushed away all the boxes with his left leg, not caring when they fell over. Clary trailed right behind him as he opened the door and entered. The coppery scent of blood hit her once again, but this time the urge to run away was less strong. She turned around slightly to close the door behind her and when she faced back in front, her face bumped against something firm. She almost lost her balance but two hands grabbed her arms and steadied her.

"Easy, Clary," Raphael muttered.

"I'm fine," she said strongly, pushing his hands off her.

"If you say so."

Raphael continued, and Clary followed, cautiously, as she couldn't see that well in the darkness. She seemed to run into a lot of cobwebs, and she was unsure as to how, Raphael should have encountered them first. Suddenly she realised that she didn't actually know where he was, he had gone ahead too fast, and he seemed to make no noise when he moved.

"Raphael?" Clary whispered, moving forward, her hands in front, making sure she didn't collide with something.

"Ow!" she whisper-yelled . Something sharp had cut across her left hand, and she could feel blood seeping out of the wound.

 _Ah, shit._ Clary thought, annoyed. _If all the vampires didn't already know that someone was here, now they most certainly do, thanks to my blood._

"I thought you were fine?" Raphael whispered, suddenly having appeared on the left of her. Clary didn't even have to look, she could hear his smirk through the words. Before she could hiss back some remark about not having sharp objects where someone could run into them, he had taken her hand into his slightly larger ones.

"The cut's not too deep, I can fix it up upstairs," he assured her.

"Thank you," she grumbled.

Raphael let go off her hand, and then proceeded to place his arm around her waist loosely. Clary flinched at the contact and glared up at his barely visible face.

"What are you doing?" Clary hissed, trying to move away. His grip just tightened.

"There's 237 vampires in the room we're about to go in, about half of them not having had blood yet tonight, and you're currently bleeding. Trust me hermosa, you want to be next to me. Or else you'll be dead before you can even scream for help."

"Fine," she muttered angrily.

Raphael led her, and now that her eyes had somewhat adjusted, Clary could see silhouettes of items around the place. She had to admit, with the stupid vampire guiding her, it was much easier to walk. Surprisingly, Clary felt much less colder now. Raphael somehow seemed to be very warm. It wasn't just because of his jacket, she had noticed it earlier when he was examining her wound. His hands were softer than she would've expected, and his fingers nimble. With his arm around her, she almost felt…calm. She also felt really drowsy, the shopping all day and running around the streets finally hitting her.

Clary was snapped out of her sleepiness by Raphael's grip tightening even more around her. She realised that they where now in a fairly large room. The light was better in here, allowing Clary to observe her surroundings. It looked like a lounge area, with multiple torn couches, springs clearly visible. Coffee tables – or at least, the splintered, wooden remains of coffee tables – were present in front of the destroyed sofas. Every wall and piece of furniture that Clary's eyes traced seemed to have at least one bit of a dark stain on it, and she was pretty sure that it wasn't from coffee. Whilst this unsettled her, she only shuddered when she noticed figures emerging from the shadows, more than 200 of them, as Raphael had said. All of them either seemed hungry, baring their fangs at her, or they were amused, checking out Clary's slight trembling and Raphael's hand on her waist.

"Why is this filthy _Nephilim_ in here?" an Asian vampire hissed. Clary recognized her as Lily.

"Manners, Lily," Raphael said, in his bored manner, "This isn't any way to welcome a guest."

" _Guest?_ You're going soft, Raphael. She's more of a prey than anything. We should just rip out her throat and give the newbies an easy meal," Lily said, infuriated, glaring at Clary.

For some reason, those words cause Clary's fear to evaporate. She was just annoyed now, and it showed up in her body language, as she stood up straighter and glared back at Lily.

 _Who the hell does she think she is?_ Clary's head boiled. _I thought the Downworlders were starting to have less hostile feelings towards us… what is her problem?_

"Now, now, nobody's ripping out any throats," Raphael said, and then made his voice slightly louder. "This is goes to all of you. Clary here is just a guest, and she will be gone by tomorrow, most likely. Nobody is to touch her. If you do, I will make sure you see the next sunrise."

His tone was normal enough, impassive even. But it had a slight edge, and the threat the words held made most of the vampires retreat a little. Clary was slightly shocked by the announcement, unsure why Raphael would bother to threaten his vampires in such a manner.

"Why do you care so much about her, huh?" Lily snapped back, closer to them two than ever.

"Because I have a seat in the Council, Lily. Besides, it isn't appropriate for us to go killing every mortal that comes across us. Not only will we be breaking the accords, but we would most likely have a war at our hands."

Lily simply scoffed at this statement and shot Clary a murderous look, before stomping up the stairs.

"Well, that was entertaining," Raphael muttered. Realising that all the vampires were still around the two of them, he coughed to get their attention. "As you were," he said, and they all went back to whatever they were doing, somehow soundlessly.

"Follow me," Raphael said, back to his indifferent manner. He started leading her towards the staircase, when Clary realised that his arm was still around her waist.

"Is this still necessary?" Clary said, gesturing at his arm.

"Oh, no, it isn't," was all he said, as he pulled his arm away and started making his way up the staircase. Clary followed him straight away, not wanting to have an experience similar to earlier, even though she could see much clearly now.

The two of them walked up around 10 flights of stairs, until they were at the top level. Clary was more tired than ever, and all she wanted to do was sleep. She peeked a look at Raphael as they walked down a narrow corridor, and he looked not at all fazed by the walk up the stairs.

 _Of course not,_ she thought, _he's a vampire._

They reached the end of the corridor, where a door was. Raphael pulled out a simple key and unlocked it, going inside. Clary entered, and she gasped softly, too fatigued to control her reaction. The room was massive, to put it simply. Straight ahead was a rather modern U-shaped white sofa, facing to the left where the biggest TV Clary had ever seen was wall-mounted. Seriously, it was about 120-inch. A little matching coffee table was positioned in the gap of the U in the couch, with a soft glowing light around the edges to match the armrests of the sofa. Past the couch, there was a large window with a seat, and to the left along the wall was a full wooden bookcase. Clary made her way forward to the window, past a wall and then saw a study to her right. There was a desk that was wide enough to take up the expanse between the two walls. A bunch of papers and files were lying around, the whole thing a big mess. Clary recognized a golden envelope as the invitation for the Shadow world ball, but it was on the floor rather than the desk. She was about to go pick it up to put it on back on the desk, but then Raphael's voice interrupted her.

"Clary, come here," he called out.

She made her way back to the front of the room, and then was shocked again. To the right of the sofa was a huge bedroom. It had originally been hidden by silver velvet curtains, but they had now been drawn back. An elegant four poster, king-sized bed was positioned against the wall that separated it from the study. It had a mesh at the top, and the canopy flowing down was a light blue shade, quite like sapphire, and translucent. The comforter on the bed with a criss-cross pattern matched the colour of the canopy , and a couple of pillows in a slightly darker shade of blue were resting against the headrest. On either side of the bed were two side tables with drawers, both black and holding a light. On the wall, perpendicular to the bed was another window. It too had a window, seat, and this one looked quite comfortable, almost like a miniature bed. The fabric covering it was a light grey, and there were two large pillows, that matched the ones on the bed in colour. The curtains of this window were a dark blue, to make sure no light got through, but at this particular moment they were drawn back. Clary noticed a small balcony outside, in the shape of a semi-circle. She could see the city, lights still sparkling at this late hour, and she imagined, still noisy.

There was a door on the wall, facing the bed and she could see Raphael inside, crouching down and looking inside a cabinet. She finally stepped inside the bedroom, noticing the change from dark wooden floorboards to a light carpet. Her eyes roamed towards the last piece of furniture she hadn't noticed yet, a mirror. It was almost full length, and extremely beautiful. A golden trim lined it, and there were multiple spirals coming off it at the top. A single rose was present in the middle of two spirals, at the very top, that rose to make a heart. The rose reflected light of it, and Clary realised it was made of glass and the tips of the petals were covered in gold. A tiny vial was encased in the petals of the rose, holding a dark red liquid, with a golden stopper on top. Clary had an urge to feel the glass and gold, but it was much too high for her to reach.

"Admiring you reflection, hermosa?" Clary jumped at the sound of the vampire's voice. She had been staring at the mirror, transfixed.

"What's is that vial?" Clary asked, pointing at the rose.

"Blood," he replied curtly, not even glancing up. He walked towards the bed and sat down, opening up a first aid kit next to him and taking out bandages.

Clary sat next to him, her eyes on the golden wonder still.

"Whose blood?" She pressured, her curiosity getting the better of her.

 _It must be someone really important, if he's kept it so preciously,_ she thought, intrigued.

"That's none of your business," he said harshly. She looked at him in confusion, unsure why he was being so defensive. He saw her look and sighed.

"I don't share matters regarding my life with anyone, Clary. You're probably the only one who's seen my room, and won't be dying immediately. Now show me that wound so I can bandage it," he said, changing the subject abruptly.

"I'll do it myself," she said, taking the bandages from him. "How is this room so posh? How did you get that much money? And don't say it came like this, because I'm pretty sure 120-inch TV's weren't around then."

"I was definitely not going to say that it came like this. It was hideous when I first moved in, and I get it renovated every 10 years or so. As for the money, well let's just say being a vampire brings in it's bucks, and if you're immortal without a need for useless human expenditure such as food, you get a lot saved up."

"Huh, that doesn't sound so horrible," Clary voiced. Meanwhile, her right hand struggled with trying to wrap the bandage around her left hand.

"Are you sure you can do that?" Raphael asked, staring at her stumbling hands with amusement.

"Yeah," she said stubbornly.

"Here, let me help you," And before Clary could protest, he had taken her hand and swiftly started wrapping the bandage around it. She realised again how soft and warm his hands were, and how expertly his agile fingers moved around.

"How do you still remember how to do that and why do you have a first aid kit around?" Clary asked, trying to get her mind off admiring his hands, "Don't vampires heal really quickly or something?"

"We do heal quite rapidly," he said, wrapping the last bit, and looking up at her as he spoke. "But I have a first aid kit around just in case, and I have a good memory."

"Thank you," Clary muttered, noticing that he had finished. And that he still hadn't let go of her hand.

"You're welcome" he replied, with a hint of warmth in his voice that Clary hadn't heard before.

 _Maybe, just maybe, I'll actually be fine here,_ Clary thought, as she watched Raphael pack up the first aid kit and go to put it away.

* * *

* _God_  
**That's a surprise.

 **Woohoo, the second chapter finished.** **I hope all of you enjoyed it :)  
** **  
As I said earlier, it's quite a bit longer than the first chapter. I'm sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Idk, what do you guys prefer? Chapters this long, or shorter, or even longer?**

 **Review with what you liked, and what you didn't, and stay tuned.  
** **Hopefully, I'll have the Chapter 3 up in the next 2 days.**

 **Until then,  
xoxo Fire Gal **


	3. Conflicting Feelings

**It's midnight and I just wanna sleep, but I rushed to get out this chapter. I'm so sorry if this has grammar and punctuation and spelling mistakes, I honestly didn't get time to edit it.**

 **Anyhow, most of you are in America, so Good Morning to you :) I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
** **(Also, Raphael P.O.V. further on in the chapter)**

 **Disclaimer : I don't own TMI or any of it's characters.**

 **(The title of this chapter isn't really that fitting but just roll with it.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Conflicting Feelings**

"Where the hell are you?" Isabelle screeched. Clary winced and held the phone away from her ear for a second, her eyes flickering to the bed. Raphael was sitting lazily, leaning on the headboard with his legs stretched out in front of him while doing whatever on his phone. (Clary still couldn't believe he had a phone, as she had always thought of vampires as really ancient creatures, who probably didn't know anything about modern technology, let alone use it.) He was wearing earphones, and Clary really hoped the music was loud enough that he couldn't hear his conversation. Raphael hadn't glanced up at the window seat where she was sitting, so she assumed he hadn't heard Izzy's yelling.

"We've been calling you for more than 2 hours!" Isabelle cried. Clary sighed, knowing that Izzy's reaction was totally appropriate. After Raphael had bandaged up her hand, she had finally decided to pull out her phone from her jeans. It was on silent, so she had no idea how many messages or calls she had missed until she opened it. A shocking 96 texts and 52 missed calls showed up in her notification, all by Isabelle, Simon, Magnus and Alec, causing Clary to swear under her breath. Thinking that she had to deal with it eventually, and better sooner than later, she called Isabelle. Raphael had noticed her pulling her phone to her ear, and shot her a look before pulling out earphones. Clary was internally grateful for that, not wanting him to hear the conversation.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Clary replied.

"You're sorry? Oh you better be sorry. Why did you run off like that? Jace left a short while after you, and he refused to say anything."

 _Probably went to see his stupid girlfriend_ , Clary thought in anger.

"Izzy, Jace and I… we broke up. He… uh, cheated on me," she said quietly.

"He WHAT?" Four voices yelled out through the phone. Clary flinched and almost dropped the phone.

"Sorry, I should've mentioned that you're on speaker," Izzy muttered quickly.

"Yeah, I got that."

"I'm so sorry, Clary," Isabelle said, her voice genuinely sad.

"He's a jerk," Simon said gruffly.

"How are you holding up?" Magnus asked cautiously.

"I'm fine," Clary replied, surprisingly meaning it. She didn't want to waste any tears on Jace, and besides they had been unsteady for the last month anyways.

"Right," Isabelle said in a doubting tone. "Anyways, where are you?"

"Hotel Dumort."

A series of responses attacked Clary. Isabelle simply yelled "WHAT?", whereas Simon resorted to "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?". Magnus went with "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THERE?" and Alec just sighed very loudly.

"Okay, okay calm down," Clary said hastily. She noticed that Raphael still had not looked up from his phone, thank god.

"Calm down? No, Clary. Why on earth are you at Hotel Dumort?" Isabelle said in a loud voice, anger running in her words.

"I don't know… I just had to get away from the institute, and I ended up here. I stayed cause well, I had nowhere else to go."

"You do realise, it's filled with vampires? Like blood-sucking, will tear you throat out, vampires? Not to mention, the specific bastard that turned me into a vampire?" Simon asked, clearly mad at her too.

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten Simon. But I'm fine. None of them have attacked me, and I'm talking to you, see? Clearly alive and haven't gotten my throat ripped out."

"Yet," Magnus said, gravely. "I'm assuming you haven't been attacked yet because Raphael gave orders?"

"Yes," Clary looked up for a second to make sure he wasn't paying attention, but still lowered her voice as she continued. "He's been… welcoming. There hasn't been a single indication that he's going to kill me or something."

Magnus sighed, hesitating for a second before speaking, "Clary, you can't trust him, you know that right? Raphael has many secrets, and is all too good at hiding his true intentions. I've known him forever, and trust me when I say, you don't want to fall into his charms."

"There are no charms," Clary said defensively. "And I can manage myself."

Magnus was starting to speak, when Alec cut him off, "We know you can manage yourself," he said. "But, just be careful, alright?"

"I will. Besides, I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"That might not be the best idea," Alec muttered. "I don't think you should see Jace for another week. He's been a real asshole."

Everyone was quiet for a second, unsure how to react to Alec being upset with Jace, his parabatai.

"Another week at Dumort? Is that even safe?" Isabelle asked, breaking the silence.

"Of course not," Simon snapped, "Can't she just stay at Magnus'?"

"No can do," Magnus said, "I'm getting the place renovated."

"Anybody have any other options?" Clary asked. When nobody replied, she continued, "So it's settled, I'll stay here for another week – if Raphael allows it. If not, well I'll find some way to avoid Jace at the institute."

"On a bright note, when you come back, everyone's going to be too busy preparing for the ball so you'll have lots of opportunities to stay away from Jace." Izzy said, her tone slightly bright.

"And try on our new dresses? Along with hairstyle and makeup?" Clary asked, mischievously.

"Of course," Magnus said happily, over Isabelle's squeal of agreement.

"I'm looking forward to it," Clary replied, smiling now.

"Oh yeah, and Clary? Do make sure to come back in a week, or else we won't know how to explain to Jocelyn why you are staying in a hotel full of vampires. Or at least, we won't be able to control her anger," Simon said solemnly.

"And we promise not to say anything to any of the adults, including Robert and Maryse," Alec added quickly.

"Right, thank you, guys," Clary said.

A chorus of "take care"s and "be careful"s were said from the four of them and a "don't trust that horrible, blood-sucking idiot" from Simon, as Clary ended the call.

" _Golden-boy cheated on you?_ " Raphael asked, immediately after she had hung up. He got off the bed, taking off his earphones and walking towards her, a surprised expression on his face. Clary glared at him, getting up herself, and putting her phone in her pocket.

"You were listening?" she asked, angrily.

"No, I can read your mind," he said, rolling his eyes. " _Of course_ I was listening."

"Well, then you already know what I'm going to ask you," she said, still mad.

"Yes, you can stay another week. I'll make sure you don't get killed."

"Thanks," Clary grumbled.

"No problem. I may be a _horrible, blood-sucking idiot_ but I'm not planning for you to end up dead while you're here," Raphael said, his bored tone giving way for a tiny smirk.

"Great," she muttered.

"I have to take a shower now, but you should probably get some sleep," he said, changing the conversation.

"Uh, sure, but – and this is probably a stupid question – I was wondering if you had any food?" she asked, her voice uncertain.

"Sí," Raphael started, and Clary got hopeful, "That is a stupid question," he finished, and she sighed in annoyance. "However, I can take you out to get food."

"I'm fine." Clary said, not wanting to go out at around 11:30pm with Raphael, especially.

"Really?" Raphael asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Last time you said that to me, you got your hand cut."

She eyed him in irritation. "I'll manage until morning," she said.

"When did you last eat?" he inquired.

 _Why doesn't he just let it go?_ Clary thought and then answered softly, "Noon."

"I'm not mortal, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't go 12 hours without eating, especially considering you ran all the way here from your institute, and then climbed 10 flights of stairs."

Clary looked at him in surprise. _Why does he care?_

"We're going out, after I have a shower," he said, in a tone that made it clear that she couldn't disagree with it.

"Fine," she replied, grumpily.

Out of the corner of her eye, Clary saw him shake his head at her, probably in exasperation. Then without a word, he walked into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him and leaving Clary in confusion.

* * *

 **Raphael**

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid_ , was the monologue inside Raphael's head. _Why did I slam the door shut? Stupid. Now she's going to think something's wrong,_ he thought, as he took off his jacket and pulled off his shirt so hard that it ripped.

 _Great._ He slid off his pants, and left them on the floor, his mind whirling as he stepped into the shower. The water that hit him was freezing cold, but it barely bothered him. What did bother him, was that stubborn little redhead on the other side of the door. He was unbelievably frustrated at her, this situation, his _stupidity_.

When he had seen her, he had naturally been very shocked. He had no intention of even letting her into the hotel, until she had mentioned that she had nowhere else to go. That had made his entire mind change. She looked so vulnerable and small, and well, nobody had ever come to the Hotel Durmont for any reason other than business. So well, he did the first stupid thing of the night and invited her in. Then, other stupid, stupid, things were him putting his arm around her waist (he was still denying that he actually didn't mind holding her near him), showing her into his room (seriously, he could've put her anywhere else), bandaging her hand for her (she was struggling so much, it actually annoyed him), and then insisting that he take her out for food. Oh yeah, and not to mention, calling her hermosa multiple times (to be fair, he had intended for it to get on her nerves, but he hadn't received a reaction yet).

 _You absolute idiot. She probably thinks you care about her._

He couldn't afford to care about her. And he didn't, he actually found her annoying. Her stubbornness, while it contributed to her somewhat admirable courage, was also rather irritating. Couldn't she just accept things straight away, for once? And how was he supposed to deal with her for another week?

Groaning in vexation, Raphael turned off the water. All that time that he was regretting his actions, it had warmed up until it was almost boiling hot, making the entire bathroom steamy. He, of course, hadn't noticed it, even as he dried himself up and put on his clothes – minus his torn shirt. Not bothering to check his reflection, he walked out into the bedroom, shirtless and rubbing his damp hair with a towel.

He had expected to find Clary still on the window-seat, but instead he saw the TV was on, and he assumed she was lying on the sofa. There was that horrible vampire movie – Twilight playing. Raphael shook his head in disdain, as he couldn't believe anyone would willing watch something like that.

 _She's probably has it on to irk me_ , he thought, but when he neared the sofa, he saw that she was in fact fast asleep, her legs curled up and her head resting on her left upper arm. She looked so peaceful, he didn't want to wake her up. Instead he went and got a white shirt from his closet, pulling it on and pushing back the sleeves. He didn't care much for what he wore, as long as it was practical and comfortable, and not ridiculously expensive.

He glanced again at Clary from where he stood, in front of his closet door and next to the bookcase.

 _I have to wake her up now. And she's probably going to be annoyed. Great._

He made her way to her and sighed softly, is hovering above her shoulder for a minute. He didn't really know how she was going to react, and he wanted to minimalize any chance of an outburst.

 _Oh just do it, since when do you care if someone is mad at you or not?_

He softly tapped her shoulder, saying "Clary, wake up." It took a few seconds, but she drowsily opened her eyes, and then snapped up when she registered that it was Raphael. Her hair was a wild mess, and he had to stop himself from smiling.

"Do you want to go take a shower and freshen up?"

She nodded at him, with wide eyes, and got up stumbling. Raphael repressed the urge to help her steady herself, and instead followed her with eyes as she walked slowly to the bathroom. He noticed her wrap her arms around herself, rubbing them slightly.

 _She's cold,_ he observed, _I should probably give her my jacket for when we go out. Wait, no, that would be odd. I should go ask Lily._

He was going to leave when he paused for a second. What was wrong with him? Why on earth was he bothering to act like he cared what happened to her?

 _Because you do care._ Some part of his brain nagged at him.

He couldn't deal with this. Deciding that he might as well just get the jacket, and get away from where Clary was, he left the room. Lily's room was just down the corridor, her being his second-in-command. She usually backed him up in his decisions, but what had happened earlier with Clary tonight was unexpected. Lily had been much harsher than she usually is. One of the reasons he had her second was because she had a more lenient and nicer outlook. He wasn't sure what had caused her to act so rude.

Raphael had reached Lily's door, and opened it without knocking, as he usually did. He had expected it to be empty, as he hadn't heard any sounds, but instead he found Lily in her bed with a blond man, both naked.

"Raphael, what the hell?" Lily asked, pulling up the blankets to cover both of them. The blond got up slightly, and as the light fell on his golden eyes and unmistakable runes, Raphael realised who he was. He was too shocked to maintain his indifferent composure, and his face showed his surprise.

 _Oh, so that's why Lily was being bitchy to Clary._

"Hello, Jace," Raphael said, regaining his impassiveness.

"Hey. Haven't you heard of knocking?" the Shadowhunter said, slightly glaring at Raphael.

A dozen cutting remarks were on the tip of Raphael's tongue, but he chose to ignore them and focused on what he had come for.

"Do you have a jacket that I can borrow for Cl- our guest?" Raphael said, thinking it would be best if Jace didn't know that Clary was here.

"Wait a minute," Lily said. Raphael noticed a rune inscribed into the door as he stepped out of the room and closed the door.

 _Ah, that's why I didn't hear anything._

In a minute, Lily opened the door, wearing an oversized t-shirt and clutching a black bomber jacket.

"Thanks," Raphael said, taking it from her. Lily looked as if she was about to say something, but instead just gave a sharp nod and closed her door, this time locking it.

When Raphael entered his room, Clary was sitting on the window seat, with an annoyed expression while texting on her phone. She looked up as the door closed shut and noticed the jacket in his hands, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"This is for you," Raphael said. She walked up to him and grabbed it, putting it on. It fit her almost perfectly and she seemed slightly more content.

"Now, if you don't mind, we should probably hurry. You don't want to deal with the workers on the night shift after 1 am. Their coffee hasn't kicked in by then, and they're just overall depressing. Y también jodidamente grosero.*"

She didn't ask how he knew that or what the last bit meant, only followed him as they made their way to the rooftop.

"Oh god, no way," Clary muttered.

In front of them stood two sleek motorcycles, both of them running on demonic energy. Raphael owned one of them, and he assumed the other one belonged to the blond Shadowhunter downstairs. Raphael went to go sit on his bike, but when he glanced at Clary, she was extremely pale.

"There's no way I'm getting on that bike," she said, trying to come across as steady, but her voice trembled ever so little. Of course, Raphael caught it. "This is way too much for night." With that she turned around and started walking towards the stairs.

"Clary?" he questioned, catching up with her. When she didn't respond, he grabbed her arm so she was forced to stop.

"Clary," he said, this time more forcefully.

"I'm sorry, Raphael, I can't," she said, and yanked her arm out of his grip, and continued down the stairs.

Raphael, for the first time in a countless years, truly wanted to scream. Why was she so fucking stubborn? Now what, they were going to catch the subway?

And that's exactly where he found himself in the next ten minutes. On the subway. Next to Clary, in a carriage that was almost entirely empty apart from one roughly 50 year old man, who was dressed from head to toe in black and kept shooting glances at Clary. She was pretending to not notice, instead looking out the window, but Raphael could tell it bothered her. Her jaw was tensed slightly and her heartbeat was faster than normal. This was just stressing him out, so Raphael shot the man a furious look and he sunk into his seat, covering his eyes with his black hat.

Clary didn't seem want to talk at all, and Raphael was fine with that, not being a big talker himself. They spent the entire ride and the walk to a 24-hour McDonalds (with a swinging M sign that was flashing - the restaurant quality in the neighbourhood was obviously not going to be the best) in silence. There was only one cashier and one half-asleep employee inside, but they managed to whip up a half decent Big Mac. Or at least that's what Raphael assumed as Clary scoffed down the entire thing in 5 minutes flat, barely breathing. _Or maybe she's just really hungry_ , he thought as he watched the golden M sign reflect on her pale skin every few seconds through the scratched window. Honestly this place was deplorable, with every single table covered in junk, apart from the kiddies area near the playground, (the playgroud itself was in an unmentionable condition). So that's where the two of them were sitting, the seats uncomfortably small for Raphael's legs. He honestly didn't want to spend more time than necessary in the dump, so when Clary finished and he had bought her an ice cream (even in the middle of winter, the girl was looking wistfully at the image of a soft-serve and he had thought, _oh what the heck it's a couple more cents_ ), they were both out of there.

"Where are we going?" she had asked, rubbing a little bit of ice cream from the tip of her nose with her hand.

"You'll see," was all he said, pressing down the thoughts that the little action she had done was rather cute.

He led her to a little park that was very close by, and unlike the rest of the neighbourhood, was not a total mess. It had no name, and it was rather small, but it was definitely better than the rusty McDonalds. There was a circle of trees, with around 6 light poles, illuminating the centre patch. Someone, probably a bunch of local kids, had strung up lights around the tress, so the whole aura was quite pleasant.

Clary had eyed the place suspiciously when they had first arrived, but now was contently sitting down, finishing off the last of her ice cream, as Raphael laid down, his head resting on his hands and staring up at the blackness ringed by lights.

"How did you find this place?" Clary asked, softly running her hands on the grass, having finished the soft serve cone.

"I used to hang out here, with a bunch of my friends, before I became immortal and everything," he muttered. He couldn't believe how easily he had shared that little detail.

"How old were you?"

"Around 15 to 16 when I used to mess around here, but 19 when I got turned." Again, more information. What was this girl doing to him?

"Do you miss it?"

"Everyday," he whispered.

"It must have been hard," she said quietly, her eyes falling onto his face.

"You get used to it," he said, his dark eyes meeting her emerald-green ones.

* * *

When they got back at the hotel, Raphael suggested that Clary should sleep, it being almost 2am and everything. She had nodded and then gotten up to go towards the window seat.

"What are you doing?" he asked, confusion striking across his face for a second.

"Uh, sleeping?" she replied, sitting down now.

"Don't be ridiculous. You are small, but you are going to be damn uncomfortable over there. Take my bed."

"Um, no thanks," Clary said cautiously.

"Oh no, don't worry," he replied, realising what she had thought. "I won't be sleeping on the bed, or if at all. I'm a vampire, remember?"

"Yeah, but still, I'm fine."

"Clary, don't b-."

"No, seriously," she said in a final tone, signalling the end of the conversation.

"Fine, have it your way," Raphael said, sighing and running a hand through his hair for what seemed like the dozenth time that night.

"Thank you," she mumbled and then lied down, facing the window.

"Goodnight, Clary," Raphael said, turning off the lights, and staring at her darkened silhouette against the city's lights.

And as her breathing started slowing down just a little, he heard a whispered, "Goodnight, Raphael."

 _Maybe, just maybe, this week will actually be fine_ , Raphael thought, hearing Clary's slow heartbeat as she fell asleep.

* * *

*And also fucking rude.

 **Woohoo another chapter done. Rushed, but still done.  
Please, please, please, review on this, it would mean the world to me. Also, favourite and follow, if you like it enough.  
**

 **Buenas Noches, amigos :)**

 **P.S. Peek that parallel from this chapter's ending and last chapter's ending.  
** ** _(Maybe, just maybe, Claphael could be starting to happen.)_**


	4. Bonding?

**So yes, this is late. But on the bright side, it`s 5000 words long :) So ye, enjoy.  
Also, I`m not longer translating all the spanish stuff cause I feel like if you guys go to the bottom of the chapter, stuff`s going to be spoiled, and I don`t want that happening. There won`t be a lot of spanish, but keep google translate open just in case.**

 **(And I know my apostrophes are weird, but I promise it`s not the same case in the actual story.)**

 **Disclaimer : I don`t own TMI or the characters tho I do wish Raphael was real.**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Bonding?**

Clary woke up, feeling absolutely cramped. Groaning, she went to stretch out, and promptly fell out of her 'bed.' _What the hell- oh right, Hotel Dumort, Raphael's bedroom, window seat,_ she thought.

"Good morning, hermosa," Raphael's voice called out from somewhere near the desk. "You'll find a toothbrush and other mundane stuff in the bathroom."

Clary checked her phone. It was noon, she had been asleep for about 10 hours. Yawning, she made her way to the ridiculously luxurious bathroom. She had been too tired to appreciate the beauty of it yesterday in her tired state but now she could see how amazing it was. The double sink was made of black marble, and the mirror-cupboard was rather large. The tiling was also black, and there was a massive bath tub positioned facing an equally huge shower. There was even a toilet, with sensors instead of buttons. All the taps were also sensory and had a golden touch.

Standing in front of the mirror, she realised was a mess everything was. Her hair was wild, the curls like a nest on her head. She had quite visible eyebags, and the only clothes she had were crumpled. She would have to go the institute today and bring over some clothes, or ask Isabelle. _Hopefully Jace won't be around,_ she thought as she started brushing her teeth. When she had finished, she brushed her hair with the hairbrush that Raphael had left next to the toothbrush. She tied it up into a ponytail and went to the desk, where he was intently writing something.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Clary asked.

"Vampires don't need a lot of sleep," he didn't even look up.

"What are you doing?" she inquired, trying to look at the paper.

"Work."

"I didn't realise you even had to do work."

"I'm the head of the largest clan in this state, and also a member of the council. Of course I have to work," he scoffed.

"Damn, and you have to do this for the rest of eternity? That sounds horrible."

"Working is better than going to a Downworlder bar every single night and getting wasted on spiked blood, then finding some mundane or Seelie to come home with. Even sex gets boring after a while."

"You sound like you have experience," Clary stated.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Raphael raised an eyebrow, glancing up.

Clary's face burned red, "That's not what I meant."

"I'm sure you didn't," Raphael said, as he folded up the letter he was writing and placed it in an envelope. He sealed it and opened a drawer on the side of his desk, and when he put it in there, it just disappeared.

"Uh, drawers aren't supposed to do that."

" _Normal_ drawers aren't supposed to do that," he corrected her. "This one has been enchanted so it transports letters to where they need to go."

"And where do they need to go?"

"To the correct people," he said, smiling slightly.

"Very informative," Clary replied, and then noticed the golden ball invitation still on the floor. She bent down to pick it up.

"Oh, _great_." Raphael commented, eyeing the letter in distaste.

"You don't want to go?"

"No quiero, pero tengo que," he muttered. Clary gave him a confused look and he translated. "I don't want to, but I have to. I'm in the council, so I have to make some speech about how the past year has been."

"Sounds fun. Have you finished it?"

"Haven't even started it," he said, grinning. "What about you? Is the infamous Clarissa Morgenstern going to the ball?"

Clary hesitated. She was so excited to go with Jace, and now that wasn't going to happen. "I don't know anymore. I'm not sure if I want to go and see Jace with his new girlfriend."

Raphael's shoulders tensed slightly, but they untensed just as quickly and Clary thought she had just imagined it.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have to go back to the institute," Clary said, changing the topic.

"I thought you were going to be here for another week?"

"I am, but I need clothes. I can't wear this for the next week," she gestured at her crumpled shirt and jeans.

"We can go shopping tonight," he offhandedly said.

"What?" Clary asked dumbfounded.

"Aren't you avoiding golden-boy? Going back to where he lives might just make it hard to do," Raphael's voice was impassive, but there was slight edge to it.

"But I don't need to buy any new clothes. That's just a waste of money," Clary said, her voice confused.

"I'll pay," he sounded as if he didn't have a care.

 _What the hell?_ Clary thought, absolutely astounded. _Since when was Raphael interested in shopping? There must be something else at play here. I can't trust him._

"Uh, it's fine. I'll ask Isabelle to bring some of my clothes over."

"No need."

"Why are you bothering with all of this?" Clary asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Making your visit here more pleasant, hermosa. It is a hotel after all," he smiled slyly.

"Seriously?"

"What? Would you rather I treat you like a prisoner?" His face still showed his amusement.

"Honestly, it would be more in character." Clary said frankly.

Suddenly, Raphael's entire demeanour changed, his body tensing, and his face becoming closed off.

"And what would you know about my character?" His voice was almost harsh.

"You did almost kill Simon…Jace and me a couple years ago. And then Simon turned into a vampire."

"Things were different before. Downworlders hated Shadow hunters, but now, times have changed."

"Have you?"

Raphael looked into her eyes, and she saw a hint of something that hadn't been there before, but she couldn't quite place what it was. He quickly averted his gaze, his dark eyelashes covering his eyes. "No lo sé," he muttered. He didn't bother translating, instead saying, "I'm taking you shopping tonight."

"Fine," Clary guessed this was one disagreement she couldn't win.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep," he said, and brushed past her.

"Also, there is human food on the sofa," he added, not looking at her.

"Thanks," she replied in an uneven tone.

She didn't watch as he walked away, but recognized the noise of the velvet curtains hiding the bedroom, slide close. Clary's scanned the desk, finding something to do for the next 5 or 6 hours. Her eyes fell on some blank paper, and she found pencils lying around. She also noticed a pair of earphones. She shrugged and took the couple items, as well as thick book to lean on, and settled on the window seat near the desk. It wasn't her usual environment, but she made do, putting on her favourite songs and starting to sketch.

* * *

"What's with you and window seats?"

Clary looked up in surprise at the sudden disturbance. She had been drawing for the past couple hours, only taking a couple breaks to eat food that Raphael had left. It mostly consisted of varieties of chips, along with some cans of soda and thankfully, iced coffee. It wasn't as good hot coffee, but it was better than nothing.

Clary had sketched multiple drawings, all of them having one thing in common – Raphael. Now that he was in front of her, she realised she hadn't done a bad job. The current drawing on her lap pictured him sitting at his desk, much like she had seen him when she had woken up. She had captured the natural tilt of his mouth, his sharp jawline and angular cheekbones, the little furrow of his eyebrows when he was confused or annoyed (not that she had gotten a lot of emotion out of him- he was like a brick wall that showed signs of being living once in a blue moon). In her drawing, his hair was a mess, falling onto his eyes and as he stood in front of her then, his black curls were the exact same.

"They're comfy," Clary said in reply to his question. She tried to subtly flip over the paper without Raphael realising, cause she really didn't want him to know she had been drawing him. However, his eyes caught the motion, and then found the other couple drawings on the floor.

"NO," Clary almost yelled, as he picked them up. She leaped up and tried to snatch them out of his hands, but he just held them up high enough that she couldn't reach, while using one arm to keep her away.

"Estoy halagado*," he said, his voice filled with humour. The drawing he was looking at was of him leaning against the wall, outside Hotel Durmont, the street light illuminating him. He had an annoying smirk on his lips, and his eyes held his amusement, both things exactly similar to his expression at the current moment. He put that page at the back, paying attention to the other 2 sketches in his hand and Clary gave a resigned sigh, crossing her arms. One of them was him sitting on his bed lazily, earphones in and eyes trained on his phone, much like he had been yesterday when she was on the phone with Isabelle. The other drawing was the one that had taken Clary the longest. It pictured him lying on the grass in the park, his posture more relaxed than it was ever, his body lined with the lights from the trees. Clary had captured the muscles visible through his pushed back shirt sleeves, as his arms were up, his hands under his head. She had drawn to uncanny detail the rest of him, his neck, his collarbones visible, down to his chest, the shirt curving slightly at his waist and moving down to his legs. However, the most detail was on his face, his eyes, lashes long and curved, and under them two dark orbs, that were comforting, containing a hint of a strong emotion. Raphael stared at that drawing for a couple minutes, completely still.

"Well, if you wanted to draw more of me, I'd be willing to act like a nude model," he finally said teasingly, but his tone was just ever so uneven.

"I'll pass," Clary snatched the papers out of his hand.

"Alright. The offer still stands though. Just ask whenever you change your mind," he said, still sounding amused.

"That's never going to happen."

"Nunca digas nunca, Clary."

"Never say never?" she guessed.

"Precisely," he said, "You should go get ready. We're going to go Taki's before we go shopping."

"Uh, Taki's?" Clary asked, hoping she had heard him wrong.

"Yeah, it's a caf-"

"I know what it is," she interrupted him, "But uh, do we have to go there?"

"It's the best place for us both to eat," he said, and then raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"

Clary hesitated, not wanting to share her thoughts. She shook her head, "It's fine."

"Good," he replied firmly, as if he wouldn't have taken any other answer. "Also, we are not taking the subway again. The motorcycles are much more convenient."

Clary opened her mouth to argue but he simple shushed her and turned her around, lightly pushing her towards the bathroom.

"Don't shush me," she said, her tone showing her annoyance.

"I just did. Now shhh, hurry up and get ready."

She shot him an outraged look and stomped off towards the bathroom. She could swear she heard him lightly chuckling behind her.

Clary had the quickest shower, thinking the whole time about what she was going to do. Taki's and demon energy motorcycles, they were things she did with Jace. And now it had been barely 24 hours since she had broken up with him, and here she was doing the same things with a horribly, annoying vampire. She sighed and dried her self off, pulling on the same clothes and brushing her hair, choosing to leave it out. When she walked out, Raphael was closing the door to his closet, having changed into a black pair of jeans and a dark blue, long-sleeved shirt. He had pushed back the sleeves, and the golden chain still hung around his neck. He looked up and saw Clary, noticing her loose hair, and tracing it down with his eyes to where it hung, past her chest. His gaze snapped back to her face and he asked, "Ready?".

She nodded, grabbing Lily's jacket from where it lay on the sofa, pulling it on. The walk to the roof was short, and Clary took a deep breath as she laid eyes on the motorcycles.

"Do we have to use a motorcycle?" she asked, looking at Raphael with a pleading look. He seemed annoyed for a second, as he saw the second motorcycle, but that was gone soon as he met Clary's eyes.

He grinned at her, "I'm promise I'm not going to crash into a helicopter."

"You can crash into many other things," she muttered.

Raphael rolled his eyes, and sat on the motorcycle. She got on behind him, keeping a little space between the two of them, and lightly placing her hands on his shoulders. She felt him sigh, as if he were tired.

"No, I am not going to move closer," she said, before he could say anything.

"Clary, you're going to fall off." He _did_ sound tired, tired of disagreeing with her.

"I'll be fine, I've ridden one of these before," she stated confidently even though she didn't believe herself.

"You haven't ridden with me before," he said. "Trust me, it's much more different than what you're used to."

"I know, but-," before Clary could finish, Raphael had grabbed her knees and slid her forward, forcing her to bring her arms down from his shoulders. She gasped at the sudden movement, and punched him in the back lightly.

"Hold on," he said, and she barely had time to put her arms around his waist before he had started the bike. He accelerated and the edge was right there and then they were falling. Clary would have yelled, but instead she held onto Raphael tighter, his abdominal muscles relaxed under her tense arms, and buried her face into his back. She could feel him laughing quietly and had to repress the urge to punch him again. She was afraid that if she let go with even one hand, she would slip right off. After about 15 very long seconds, the bike started to rise, and Clary let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding. This was only the second time she had experienced the fall, as with Jace, they always started from the ground. Now, she finally relaxed a little, but still held on tight enough to Raphael. He wasn't wrong when he had said that it would be different. While Jace had always gone fast, he seemed to always be hesitant, aware of his mortality. Raphael had none of the hesitance. He was much faster, much more sure with his driving. Yet, somehow Clary had a sense that he was being cautious, and unbelievably, she felt safe – or at least as safe one can feel riding on a motorcycle hundreds of feet above ground. She placed her head against the small of his back, her eyes taking in the blurred lights of the busy city below.

When they arrived at Taki's, the place was fairly crowded – more filled than Clary had ever seen it.

"Why are there so many people here?" she asked, confused.

"It's 8:30 pm on a Saturday night. Prime time for most Downworlders," he said, his eyes flickering over the whole place through the windows. He opened the door, the bell ringing with a tinkle.

"Hey Raphael," Kaelie said from behind the counter. She beamed at him but when she saw who was next to him, her eyes widened. "Hey Clary," she said, not as enthusiastically.

The conversation in the diner suddenly dimmed down, and Clary was very aware of many pairs of eyes trained on the two of them.

"Uh, everyone's looking at us," she whispered at Raphael. He didn't respond, instead nodded at Kaelie and led Clary to a booth in a corner. Everyone stopped paying attention to them then, going back to talking.

"We do make an odd couple," Raphael said, sitting across from Clary.

"Not a couple," she glared at him.

"Yet," he said, grinning.

Clary rolled her eyes at him. She picked up the menu and flipped it, skimming through the human food. She had tried almost everything, and it was all pretty damn delicious. She glanced up at Raphael to find him staring at her.

"What?" she asked, giving him a questioning look.

"You have pretty eyes," he said, in all seriousness.

 _What?_

"You can stop trying to annoy me, you know."

"Annoy you? Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asked, sounding as if he was enjoying himself.

"Obviously. Why else would you say that my eyes are pretty?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Maybe because I'm being honest?" he said, not breaking eye contact. Clary realised with a slight shock how unnervingly dark his eyes were, his pupils only slightly distinguishable.

"What would you like to order today?" Kaelie had appeared next to their table, and Clary snapped her eyes back to the menu.

"I'll have a cheese toastie," Clary said. Kaelie didn't even look at her, only jotted it down, then beamed at Raphael.

"What about you?" she asked in an awfully cheery voice, batting her eyelashes.

Clary wanted to puke at her obvious flirting – _why would someone flirt with Raphael_ – but he didn't seem to notice. Instead he didn't even glance up at her, only ordered some blood of an animal Clary had never heard of before. Kaelie, who was usually nice to Clary, shot her a raging look and walked off.

"Were you two a thing?" Clary asked, as soon as she was gone.

Raphael was idly twisting a straw in his fingers, and lightly chucked when she asked her question. "Not a _thing_ as such. Maybe a one or two night stand."

"She certainly doesn't think so little of it," Clary muttered.

"Really? I didn't notice," he spoke with an innocent expression.

"Of course you didn't." Sarcasm dripped off her words. He raised an eyebrow at her, as if questioning her attitude.

 _Damn, I've always wanted to be able to raise an eyebrow. Why does he get to do it?_

"So where are we going?" Clary asked. "I don't think many stores are open after 9pm."

"We're not going to a mundane mall. There's a Downworlder shopping centre called Stygian Place."

"Stygian Place? Sounds delightful," she said, sceptically.

* * *

She was not at all sceptical when they actually arrived at the mall. It was disguised as an abandoned construction site, but past the glamour it was majestic. While the name Stygian Place suggested a horrible, dark area, the building was the exact opposite. It was bright, lights shining through windows, three stories tall and fairly wide. Raphael led her to the second floor, which seemed to be entirely dedicated to fashion. One window pictured small dresses- as if they were for children, with wings attached to the mannequins. Another window advertised liquid-proof clothes, "Perfect for keeping off blood!", while another had "Stretchable, untearable clothes for easy transformations!" and also had several accessories, such as bracelets and necklaces that showed the lunar cycle. There was another shop that had no door to enter in through, which was just as well, since it was entirely flooded with water.

"What happened there?" Clary asked, tugging at Raphael's sleeve and pointing at the shop.

"It's for mermaids," he said simply. He took her inside a shop before she could process that mermaids existed.

The place they had entered had surprisingly normal clothing. There were racks of shirts, skirts, dresses and tables holding jeans, a corner full of accessories – sunglasses, earrings, necklaces, and an area with shoes. It was fairly large, but there was barely anybody around, only a tall girl with dark brown skin, her fangs barely visible from a mirror as she tried some hats, and a guy with well-disguised little green scales on his arm who was browsing a range of coats. The cashier (a werewolf – his bite mark was visible above the collar of his shirt) was sitting with his feet up on the counter, leaning back on his chair while playing a game that looked suspiciously like Tetris on his phone.

"Buy anything you want," said Raphael, his eyes surveying the store. "I'll be sitting over there," he said, pointing at a waiting area with a couch in front of the changing rooms.

Clary nodded at him and started browsing through the shirts. She picked out three she really liked it, that were cheap. She didn't feel good about him paying, and intended on keeping the total cost low. Next, she got two pairs of jeans, one dark blue and the other black. She also grabbed a fluffy black jacket, not much different from Lily's one. Feeling comfortable that those things should last her for a week, she headed over to the dressing room. Raphael glanced up at the clothes in her hands, looking sort of disappointed. She didn't question him, just went into a changing room, that had curtains instead of a door.

She came out, satisfied with all the clothes. She had expected to find Raphael still on the couch, but instead he was near a rack, where a number of dresses hung.

"Choosing one for yourself?" she joked, walking up next to him.

"How did you know?" he grinned at her. He then gestured at the dresses with his hand, facing her. "You should get one."

"Oh no, I've already gotten what I need," Clary held up the clothes in her arms.

"Just have a look," he insisted, taking clothes from her, and putting them in a basket.

Clary wanted to say no, but one look from him and she started browsing through the dresses. They were all shockingly stunning, but none of them really her style. She was going to tell Raphael that she didn't really like any of them when a white dress caught her eye. She pulled it out, noticing that it small, appropriate for her size. It was simple, but really pretty. It had a lace like pattern of flowers, with a modest V-neck and spaghetti straps. It was short at the front but flared out to be longer at the back.

"Try it on," Raphael said. Clary started at his voice, she had forgotten he was behind her. She nodded, and went back into the dressing room. The dress slipped on easily, fitting as if it were made for her. She reached back to do up the zip, but she couldn't seem to grasp it. She struggled for a minute before giving up, sighing in frustration. She could ask Raphael, but it would be _too weird,_ she thought. But what other option did she have? She ducked her head out of the curtain, and Raphael looked up at the movement.

"Could you do my zip up?" she asked hesitatingly.

He nodded, his face not betraying any emotion. He walked over to the dressing room, his hands coming out of his pockets. Clary faced the mirror, pulling her hair around from her back. Raphael glanced down at where the zip was, around the middle of her back and paused for a second, before tugging up the zip. His fingers lightly touched her back as they went up, sending shivers down her spine. They lingered slightly at the top, near her shoulders before he pulled away. Clary noticed his gaze lazily work down her body, before he met her eyes in the mirror.

"Te ves guapa," he muttered, giving her the smallest of smiles that somehow conveyed a lot of emotion.

"I presume you're going to buy it?" he asked.

"I don't know. Wait a second," Clary said, bringing her arm back to get the price tag. The string was long enough that it came into her view, flashing the $115 red sticker at her.

"Oh, I can't," said Clary quietly.

"Sure you can."

"I can't ask you to buy this, it's way too expensive."

"Consider it as a gift. When is your birthday?"

"In August."

"Yeah, an almost 4 month late birthday gift," he said, smiling.

"No, it's fine. It's just a dr-," Clary started to say.

"I'm buying it," he stated firmly.

Clary gave him a look that conveyed both bewilderment and exasperation, but he simply shot her an amused grin and left, closing the curtains behind him. She changed out of quickly, slipping on her own clothes. Raphael was already at the counter, getting the items scanned.

"They use the same payment system here?" she asked, placing the dress in front of the cashier.

"They do. It's much easier to follow a set system than come up with a whole new one," Raphael answered.

"Cash or card?" the werewolf boy asked in a drawling low voice.

"Card," Raphael said, pulling out a black credit card. The cashier's eyes perceptibly widened as he saw the card, and he scrambled into a straighter posture. She glanced at Raphael, and she noticed a slight smirk on his face. She regarded the card once more, and noticed a shiny silver writing on it saying " **P** **latinum** ".

 _So he wasn't lying about having a lot of money._ Clary thought. Her immediate reaction to this was to consider him as a rich entitled brat, but it was gone as quickly as he had come. He acted slightly entitled perhaps, and was irritating, but he wasn't all that bad. Raphael peered sideways at her, and shot her a quizzical expression, and she realised she had been staring at him. She shook her head and glanced down at the tiled floor as he took the bags from the cashier.

"What would you like to do now hermosa?" he asked.

"I don't know, I'm usually at home by 11pm," she replied. "Also, don't call me that."

"What, hermosa?" He smirked.

"Yeah, _hermosa_ ," she said. "I'm not even sure what it means."

"It means beautiful," His eyes were twinkling with mirth.

"Okay, definitely stop calling me that," she said in a displeasing tone.

"If you say so, hermosa." He chuckled, earning an elbow in his stomach by Clary.

Raphael took her to a little area on the bottom floor. It was sort of like a garden, but it contained flowers and plants unknown to Clary, and hazy lilac smoke drifted above them. There was a flowing fountain in the middle of the circular room, the water coming out of a reddish tint, and bubbles floated around on the surface. The two of them were sitting on a bench, the bags at their feet and sipping on drinks. He had gotten her a smoothie, after much refusing and insisting, and had gotten another unfamiliar animal's blood for himself. (Turns out the vampire version of Boost – Bloodst, could still make a decent Mango Magic - bloodless if requested).

"Do you come here often?" she asked, interrupting the sounds of multiple night birds around them.

"Not really, maybe once a year," he replied, after finishing off the last of his drink.

"Oh, that's cool," she said, unsure what else to say. She placed down her drink, and got up, walking past the fountain to an interesting plant that had caught her eye. It was a shade of the darkest of blues, almost to the point where it was black, but there were a million tiny white dots splattered across the petals and they all joined in the middle in a circle of white, like stars painted against the night sky, revolving around the full moon. Clary absentmindedly cupped one of the flowers in her hand, drawn in by it's magnificence.

"Se ve guapa, doesn't it?" Raphael's was next to her, his eyes trained on Clary as she looked up at him, drawing away from the plant.

"You said something similar to that in the store," Clary noticed. "What does it mean?"

"It means beautiful," he said, quoting himself from earlier than night, but with no amusement on his expression now. Clary stared at him, wondering how his eyes could possibly be so dark and yet so capturing. She was about to speak, before he cut her off, moving closer to her until she could feel her heartbeat hiking up.

Raphael leaned down and pressed his lips against her. Clary froze, but she didn't push him away, and he took that as encouragement, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. Without realising it, Clary slid her arms up, around his neck, her hands in his hair and before she knew it, she was kissing him back. It was passionate, but sweeter than she would have expected. She felt as if she was flying, flying towards the sun, caught in the motion of his soft lips against hers, a certain warmth emitting from him. She could live in this feeling forever.

When Clary pulled back, from the lack of air, she felt slightly dazed. He'd just kissed her, _and she had kissed him back_. Raphael didn't look as fazed as her, considering he didn't need to breathe, but he still had a surprised expression on his face, like he couldn't believe that had just happened. The both of them were silent for a minute, Clary breathing deeply, and Raphael staring at the night-sky flower, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, looking at Clary. "I shouldn't have done that."

And in that moment, Clary realised what she had sometimes seen in his eyes, in the littlest amounts. Vulnerability. It was now ever so apparent in his dark eyes, shining brighter than the moon, streaking across like a shooting star, leaving a mark.

* * *

 **Woohoo Chapter 4 done.  
I hope you all liked it and please, please, please leave reviews :)  
**


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